Time’s up for the Yes2Rail blog, which I launched on June 30, 2008 as a paid consultant on Honolulu's elevated rail project. Yes2Rail’s August 13, 2012 post was its last following the author's move to Sacramento, CA. You’re invited to read four-plus years of information-packed entries, many of which are linked at our “aggregation site.” Look for the paragraph with red copy in the right-hand column, below. Mahalo for all the positive comments Yes2Rail received since its start.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Anti-Rail Talk Show Fritters Away Most of Hour With HART CEO, which Was Fine with the Host, Then Launches Anti-Rail Rant for Rest of Show

The anti-rail morning talk
show host has complained incessantly that supporters of the Honolulu rail
project have never accepted his invitation to be on his show. It’s been one of his key talking points
during innumerable hours of anti-rail rhetoric on his station going back to 2005.

So when Dan Grabauskas,
chief executive officer of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation
(HART) did agree to appear on his show this morning, how did the host handle the prospect of
having his rhetoric refuted by a man who knows infinitely more about Honolulu
rail than he does? By steering the hour away
from substantive issues toward the unimportant and into cul-de-sacs of his own
making, that’s how.

What was touted in advance as an hour with Mr. Grabauskas
was reduced to maybe 10 minutes of substantive rail discussion, excluding the
opening biographical segment (the host’s first cul-de-sac); three calls from
listeners, including one from the Big Island of all places (all three voices
were recognizable from previous calls as anti-railers); traffic reports, news breaks and
commercials.

In other words, the hour was
perfectly directed by the host to avoid both his vulnerable rhetoric and Mr.
Grabauskas’ strengths.

And what made the whole
charade even more outrageous was the host’s oh-so-sincere protestations that he wants to know more about rail that he made
during the hour after the interview with HART’s CEO:

“…what is this about, and why? I’m just very curious, why?
What are the justifiable reasons? It was interesting when Dan talked about
traffic, about a choice, about spending time with the family, about possibly
selling one of your vehicles. I get that, alright, I understand where you’re
coming from…. And I’m truly interested in hearing what the explanations are and
what the proposals are, what the vision is and all of that…. I know there are
many other issues on the table, and we’ll get to those in subsequent
conversations with Dan, about the promises of transparency…about the
Alternatives Analysis process, about the federal lawsuit, why he believes rail
is the solution to traffic…” yadayadayada.

What a Joke

Despite all the polite talk
and kid-gloves interviewing technique, let there be no mistake about the radio
host’s agenda: He wants to kill rail, and he’s not the least bit interested in
transparency, even-handed discussions or anything else that might shed one ray
of positive light on the project.

His open-line hour following the interview was a continuation of that agenda, inviting
rail opponents to say why they’re opposed to the project. There was no similar
invitation to rail supporters – just a one-way rant from the host’s true
believers. On cue, anti-railer-in-chief Cliff Slater weighed in for the umpteenth time to suggest rail would be a failure because congestion will continue to increase. As the City's Wayne Yoshioka once said, "No kidding...."

Thankfully, the host's listeners make up a
tiny percentage of the radio audience, and we have to admit after this morning's fiasco that maybe those who say it’s
not worth spending any time talking to this particular radio station are right.

But if that time ever does
come again, here’s a suggestion: Tick off the host’s objections to rail one by one,
top to bottom, and expose the shallowness and misinformation on each of his
points – the alternative to traffic issue, congestion reduction, noise, financing, construction
byproducts, energy, ridership, TOD, jobs and all the rest.

Doing that would leave the
host with no place to hide but the off switch. As for his faux desire to
know more about rail, it’s a dark, black joke.

Doug I know this is a blog, but those interested in the article would like to know the regular details. Don't be a voice of the rail and then half ass the information like the anti-rail contingent. Be a credible source, or don't be one at all.Mahalo for the half scoop.

I doubt that naming the radio station and its host is the breaking point on my credibility. I simply don't name them as a matter of principle; it's like italicizing the names of publications that I mention. It's what I do, and naming that station and its host is what I don't do. I don't think there's anything half-ass about that.

This Isn't Political

Yes2Rail is a blog about the Honolulu rail transit project, which has become the key issue in this year’s mayoral race. We comment on the candidates’ plans to address Oahu’s growing congestion problem and whether those plans could meet the need as well as elevated rail can and will. That’s not the same as criticizing the candidates, and we urge our readers to recognize the difference.

Another red-light runner meets Denver at-grade train, 6.13.12

Honolulu rail will be elevated, with zero possibility for accidents like those shown in this column in cities with at-grade systems. Visit our "aggregation site" for much more on why elevated rail is the only reasonable way to build Honolulu rail.

What riding the train will avoid

Bus Accident Aftermath on H-1

'Black Tuesday'--9/5/06 Crash Produced Nightmare Commute

Typical H-1 Traffic

About Me

After five years of active-duty service as an Army officer with duty stations in West Berlin and South Vietnam, reported and edited for newspapers and broadcast stations (including all-news radio) in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Covered Honolulu city government for the Honolulu Advertiser and KGMB-TV. Served on Congressman Cec Heftel's staff in Honolulu and Washington, then managed corporate communications and was Hawaiian Electric Company's spokesman for nearly a decade. A communications consultant for 19 years before moving to California in 2012. Launched, produced and hosted Hawaii Public Radio's "live" weekly "Energy Futures" public affairs program in 2009-10. Authored books on The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ("Punchbowl" 1982) and on the decline of standard grammar in business and society ("Me and Him Are Killing English!" 2007). Now an information officer with the California Department of Water Resources.